Slot machine makers banking on football’s popularity:

A look at two of the more popular slot machines based on the beautiful game

Whether you want to call it football or soccer, there’s no mistaking that the 2014 FIFA World Cup is once again whipping fans of the world’s most popular sport into a veritable frenzy. With just over four months to go, every fan worth his or her salt is busy rooting for their respective team.

Of course, not everybody can make it to South Africa this June to watch the beautiful game play out in person. But hey, that’s what games are for.

Now, every football fan who’s ever held a video game controller in their hands likely knows about the whole rivalry between top franchises FIFA and Pro Evolution Soccer. It’s even spilled over to their respective publishers, Electronic Arts and Konami.

This piece is not going to get in the middle of a debate about which game is better, though. This time, we’ll be taking a look at a segment of the gaming industry that’s also gone gaga over the game but isn’t as high-profile as the home console market: the slot machine industry.

Never one to shy away from capitalizing on what’s popular, the slot machine industry has also dabbled in games based on football. One of the more popular is Playtech’s Football Rules. It’s your typical slot machine on the surface — you match symbols to win – but what sets it apart from most of the others is its bonus game.

The bonus game features a penalty kick scenario. Players choose a direction where to kick the ball, with every direction having its own success rate and multiplier. As the outcomes still rely on chance there’s little to no skill involved, but it does make one wonder if somewhere down the road a skill-based soccer slot machine will eventually make its way to casino floors.

Of course, with every game that actually tries to stick to the sport it’s based on, there are others that have only the most tenuous connection. That brings us to UK-based betting company Betfair’s casino arm, casino.betfair.com, where another Playtech-developed game called Benchwarmer Football Girls is one of the top new attractions.

Benchwarmer Football Girls isn’t your typical football game. Instead of the players, the focus is on the titular benchwarmers, dangerously attractive females who carry colored footballs. Players have to match as many of the same symbol as possible from left to right, with the benchwarmers themselves winning you the most money.

Yeah, the game isn’t really so much about football, but then again not even the most hardcore of fans can live on football alone, right?